When redemption finds you
by lovetoreadeverything
Summary: Severus is given a second chance and an opportunity to live life untainted by his deepest regrets. However, he may not be too pleased with the manner in which the opportunity has been granted. Follow along as Hermione and Severus learn what it is to give and receive true love. Rated T for possible future content and occasional language.
1. Sacrifices

When Redemption Finds You

Prologue

She knelt by his side. Placing her hand over his shredded neck, her hand quickly became enveloped in his blood. She lowered her head, touching his forehead with her own. "Oh Professor, Oh Severus." She exhaled and shuddered. "I can let you die. Not now." She whispered as she began to shake. Tremors vibrating through her body as she inhaled to speak again. "You may hate me if you survive Professor but I hope you will find happiness in your restored life." Hermione focused on controlling her breathing as she continued to lean over Severus. She reached out with her magic, searching for signs of life in him. She found the faintest of faint remnants of his own magic working endlessly at keeping his heart beating. _There you are_, she thought as she focused on the feeling of his fading magic and sputtering heart. With a final deep breath, Hermione pooled her own magic in the pit of her stomach. Feeling her own essence gather what little strength she had left after the last 14 hours of non-stop battles. She reached for every bit of energy, soul, and magic she could,

pulled it together until it was a burning sphere, seemingly ready to pull her apart if she didn't release it. Leaving her left hand on Severus's neck and placing her right over his heart, Hermione forced the burning sphere up from her stomach, through her chest, and felt it split and course down both of her arms causing a pain she could only equate to the Cruciatus Curse. She felt as if her very blood vessels caught fire and incinerated her from the inside out. She felt every vessel in her arms shatter like glass and then burn in waves until she passed out and felt no more.

Chapter 1 Sacrifices

"Ron, where is Hermione?" Asked Harry. They were leaving the Great Hall. It had been hours since the final battle ended. Harry and Ron had been mourning with the rest of the Weasley's. Their eyes burned with sleep deprivation and hours of tears. Hermione had ran out of the Great Hall once the re-enforcement Aurors arrived.

"I'm not sure? The last I saw her she was talking to her self and heading for the whomping willow?" Ron scratched his head with both hands and brought his hands down to rub his face trying to gain some clarity and focus. Then he inhaled sharply and looked over at Harry with big sad eyes. "Snape… She went back for Snape, Harry!" He turned to bolt but Harry grabbed his arm. "Wait Ron, you should try to find Mcgonagall. Have her go with you. Hermione respects her and will listen to her. Hermione is bound to be terribly upset if she is out there with Snape."

Harry continued on to find a shower that worked. Most of the dorms had been demolished during the battle. A few students had told him the Hufflepuff prefect bathroom was still operational on the 3rd floor and that makeshift beds were being made in a few spare class rooms down the hall from the bath. Harry couldn't think. Wouldn't stop to dwell on the fact that it was all finally over. It was too soon. It still seemed surreal. Like the last 24 hours was a dream that we would soon wake up from. He had lost so many friends. So many people died for the cause… No, he couldn't think about anything right now. He just wanted to wash away the caked on blood, dirt, and grime that covered his entire body. He just wanted to take a shower. Just feel it all wash away.

Ron and Professor McGonagall found the whomping willow immobilized confirming their suspicions that Hermione had indeed went back to help Professor Snape. As they dropped down into the tunnel and began walking towards the shrieking shack. Professor McGonagall asked, "Mr. Weasley, What happen to Professor Snape? I know the Dark Lord killed him but Harry seemed to know how he was murdered. Where you three there?"

"Yes, Voldemort set Nagini on Snape. She attacked his neck pretty vicious like and he bled to death. Right in front of us." Ron got a faraway look in his eye and couldn't stop the tears that followed. It was all too overwhelming. Too many emotions to process.

A piercing guttural scream filled the tunnel and a wave of magical aftershock rippled down the hall and over their bodies. Ron and the Professor were pushed against the wall by the aftershock and their throats closed at the sound of what they knew must be Hermione scream seemed to last forever. Ron instantly had a flashback to Malfoy Manor and the tortured screams he heard when he and Harry were locked in the cellar.

Suddenly they were released from the oppressive force that held them captive. They both took off running down the tunnel at full tilt. Ron reached the door first and threw it open. Hermione lay on top of Severus. Her upper body draped over his chest with her arms uncomfortably trapped between their bodies. An aura of power still pulsed around them. Cocooning them in a bubble of lavender and pink pulsing fog. The fog seemed to be seeping into the both of them. The cocoon was becoming smaller and smaller and as Ron and McGonagall stared at the sight before them. Neither Hermione nor Snape moved or made a sound. Ron stepped forward and McGonagall grabbed him by the arm and jerked him

back.

"No , we cannot touch them. Not until the Vora-Eros is completely absorbed. Dear Merlin, what was Hermione thinking…" McGonagall stared in disbelief.

"What is it Professor? What is Vora-Eros?" Ron whimpered quietly.

"I haven't' the time to explain it just now. I need you to send a patronus to Madam Pomfrey. Tell her we need two strong Aurors to come to the Shrieking Shack and for her to prepare a king size bed immediately." McGonagall started casting silent charms towards Hermione and Snape so Ron stepped out of the room to send his patronus.

Minerva mentally shook herself.

When Ron re-entered the room the fog was gone and Hermione and Snape were wrapped in a sheet lying side by side but still touching. "Professor, what has happened? Is Hermione ok? Why have…" He stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Snape's chest rise and fall. Ron stared until it happened again and he gasped loudly and looked at McGonagall with wide eyes. "Professor, it can't be? I saw Snape take his final breath. The blood…"

"Shhh, quiet ." McGonagall gently chastised and held up her hand to silence him. "Hermione performed an ancient Greek incantation. One only read about and theorized. It is said to invoke the powers of the God Eros, and bind a loved one to life if they are only a whisper from deaths door. It is very old magic and really only been examined in theory. The incantation is supposed to restore your loved one to full life but at great personal risk to the caster." McGonagall was kneeling down next to Severus's head and with her right hand tilted Hermione's head into Snape's shoulder. "They cannot be separated until one of them wakes. To do so, would possibly kill them both." McGonagall was staring at Hermione with a thoughtful concentration.

"Loved one? Professor, what are you talking about? This is Hermione and Snape! They hate each other; there is no loved one here? Ron exclaimed, looking bewildered and color rising to his ears.

"Things are not always as they seem . Do show some maturity and tact." Snapped McGonagall. "Hermione may have just given her life to save Severus's. Show some respect for her sacrifice, however misguided it may be. She used a spell of love that centers on family bonds. Not just in the sense of man and wife but also as in father and child. Whatever Hermione's feelings are towards Severus, they are based in some form of deep love. Otherwise she would not have been able to cast the spell successfully."

Ron continued to stare at Hermione and Snape in confusion.


	2. Mollycoddling

Chapter 2 Mollycoddling

Severus stirred into consciousness. The first thing he realized was he was comfortably warm not hot. _Perhaps the reigning deity took pity upon me and I am not burning in hell or maybe I'm stuck in purgatory,_ he thought. His next conscious thought was that his throat felt like sandpaper. He opened his mouth and rasped a cough. With his next intake of breath he recognized the taste of the air. He was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. And with this thought he opened his eyes. They burned and he instantly squeeze them shut. Then he felt a hand on his chest.

"Lie still Severus you have been through quite an ordeal. Let me put some drops in your eyes before you try to open them again." Madam Pomfrey said as she scuttled around the bed.

_How the hell am I still alive_ thought Severus._ Death had called and I willingly answered. I was sitting at a muggle bus stop awaiting the bus to my final destination. I saw the bright headlights and then BAM, I am waking up to Madam Pomfrey's incessant mollycoddling_.

Suddenly Severus felt a slight movement along his right side. Then he became aware that his entire right side of his body was up against something warm. He stiffened in reflex and moaned lightly in pain. The involuntary flexing of his muscle had awoken every nerve ending in his body and apparently they screamed in protest.

"Tut tut my boy. Try not to move too quickly. I imagine you are sore, yes?" asked Madam Pomfrey as she set a vial of pepper up and pain potion on his bed side table and fussed with his pillow. Simultaneously the warmth on his right side disappeared and Severus heard what sounded like a near by curtain being drawn.

Severus growled and opened his eyes. It took a few moments for his world to swim into focus. He moved tentatively toward the potion vials. His delicate nose recognized the contents immediately and he downed them both.

Returning his head to the pillow Severus turned to the motherly witch that was now fussing with fixing the bed linens. "What happened Poppy? Is it over?"

"Yes my dear boy, it is all done and you, you blessed man are a hero." Severus made a strangled sound. "Now don't pull that face with me Severus Tobias Snape. I have known you since you were a boy and toiled over you bed side through peace and war seeing first hand the sacrifices you made and kept your secrets all these years. Your sneers and pretense are wasted. I am the closest to a confidont still standing Severus Snape so lets forgo the posturing insinuating otherwise shall we?" Poppy sat herself down by his side on the left side of the bed and looked at him kindly.

"I am so proud of you Severus, there, that will be the last of my _insesent mollycoddling _as you would so pointedly put it." Smiling she vanished the empty vials and looked back at the now grimacing Severus. The left corner of his mouth slightly turned up, giving away his true amusement at Poppys statement. Then the slight smile disappeared and he looked into Poppy's strained eyes.

"Tell me, Poppy, what happened?" Severus felt both at the dawning of this new day. No, he had not anticipated living thru the second war but since he had, there was a whole new set of concerns to ponder. What is his status with the Ministry? Would he face persecution and possibly Azkaban for his part in the war? He could never explain Albus. A tear threatened to break over the rim of his eye. He bowed his head to allow his curtain of black hair to hide his face.

"Well, I don't know everything Severus but I will endeavor to bring you up to speed. We have some time before McGonagall makes her rounds." With a smirk of her own, Poppy continued on. "I know how you love speaking with Minerva." They both snorted at her jibe. " Lets see, first things first. The Dark Lord was indeed slain by Harry. Shacklebolt is acting Minister until a proper election can be arranged. Public opinion seems to have him pinned as just the ticket." Severus snorted but bobbed his head in approval. As she continued on he wiggled his toes and tested his faculties. All seemed to be in order. The potions had taken effect and he was feeling marginally less sore. In curiosity he lifted his hand to his neck. The surface seemed fairly smooth save a jagged scar at the base of his neck that trailed along his collarbone. Poppy's next remark caught his attention and brought him out of his self inspection.

"We lost many in the final battle. Only a few of the elder Order Members remain. Myself, McGonagall, Shacklebolt, Molly, Arthur, Bill Weasley and his wife." Poppy wiped a silent tear from her eye. After taking a deep breath she continued. "McGonagall is acting Headmistress and the board of directors have asked her to stay on at least for the upcoming year. She is really having a tough run of things at the moment. It has been three weeks and she is still dealing with the press on a daily basis, providing supporting memory reviews and making sworn statements for the ministry to help aid in trials and doing all she can to put Hogwarts back together so a school term will be possible by September."

Severus took a shuddering breath. There were so few of his colleagues left. A thought came to him. "What of Remus and Tonks, Poppy? Surely not both?"

Poppy looked up at him with a crease in her brow and a fresh tear rolling down her cheek.

Severus recoiled slightly, and exhaled. Almost in a whisper he asked; "What of their newborn?". Poppy smiled softly "Molly has Teddy for now. Remus and Tonks had the foresight to make provisions in the event…" Poppy trailed off not wishing to articulate the words that would surely have her blubbering again. She was quite tired of crying.

Severus moved on, not wanting to distress the women to the point of not being able to continue learning of what had transpired during his absence. _Did she say three weeks? _

"Poppy, how long have I been incapacitated?" Severus sat up a little straighter now. His aches were about gone and his mind seemed to be clearing now. _How had he come to survive Nagini's attack? _

Poppy smiled as she watched him come into his self. Severus was always quick to come around once he woke up. His mental self control always impressed her. "You have been out of commission for 24 days my boy. You are likely starving for solid food."

As if on cue Severus's stomach groaned and the nagging gnawing feeling of hunger made themselves known. "Indeed, I seem to be famished to the point of distraction." Severus stated partly amused.

Poppy was already making her way back to him with a tray of food. She pulled out the side table and swung it in front of him. Severus tucked his bed covers out of the way and focused on the tray of bread and vegetable soup. Sneering he said "I thought you said solid food. What is this prison ration?" His words rang through his mind and his eyes grew wide with distress and looked around the hospital wing.

Poppy saw his reaction to his own comment and knew what startled Severus into a new level of awareness and spoke quickly to reassure him. "It's alright Severus. There are no Aurors or Ministry officials here. You are not in danger of being tossed into Azkaban. Your efforts and intentions are known and supported by enough people to keep the Ministry from taking unwarranted actions against you. The Aurors did attempt to remove you from my care at first but Minerva quickly set them straight and began the process of vindicating you from all charges thrown your way. Every Order Member provided memory testimony a few weeks ago. Albus's portrait finally woke last week, and provided his account of his death. The ministry will still want to review your memories and question you but I don't think you will be going to Azkaban Severus. Even public opinion of you is supportive. That has to do with and his friends but that I will leave for another time." She smiled impishly and looked back at Severus. His posture had relaxed again and he was nibbling at his rye bread. His trademark sneer was making an appearance as Poppy knew it would. If there was one thing Severus disliked was attention. Oh, when he finds that his shared memories were now public knowledge he would surely be unmanageable. Poppy thought that little detail could be left for someone else to divulge. So it was Minerva McGonagall that would have the honor of revealing all the unsavory details to Severus.

As Severus ate, Poppy moved on to tend her other patience. Deciding he would inquire about Madam Pomfrey's comment regarding the public opinion of him later he decided to continue his self evaluation until Minerva came calling or him.

3


End file.
